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no. Harden is grotesquly overrated. he's a smart offensive player but he's not in the same league as Kobe, Lebron, and Durant. i never seen a "star" loose the ball so much, turn the ball over so much, and get blocked as much as Harden whenever they iso.

no. Harden is grotesquly overrated. he's a smart offensive player but he's not in the same league as Kobe, Lebron, and Durant. i never seen a "star" loose the ball so much, turn the ball over so much, and get blocked as much as Harden whenever they iso.

He might not be in Kobe, LeBron or Durant's league as an overall player, but we're just talking scoring title here.

As for the turnovers, you're right that he turns it over a ton, but considering how often he has the ball in his hands and is attacking the rim, it's not too terrible. 4.1 TOs a game is bad on the surface, but it's not going to cripple his scoring. Harden turns it over on 15.9% of his possessions. Kobe is at 14.9, Durant 15.1 and Chris Paul 14.6%. We're not talking about a huge difference here. One extra turnover or so every 100 possessions probably won't be the deal breaker.

As for getting his shot blocked, he gets his shot blocked 8% of the time he shoots it. That is a pretty high number, but again, it's easily explained when you look at where his shots are coming from. 37% of his shots are close to the rim. For comparison's sake, Kobe Bryant only gets 4% of his shots blocked, but only 23% of his shots are close to the rim. Durant is 5% and 22% respectively as well. Melo has 9% of his shots blocked. So yeah, he does get blocked a lot, but that comes with the territory. Getting an extra 3% of your shots blocked because you're shooting a significant amount more at the rim is a fair trade off, and nothing to be worried about. It's again not gonna cripple his scoring title chances.

I think he's got an outside shot for a few reasons. First, he is exceptional at getting to the free-throw line. Secondly, he's had a poor start to the season from the three point land, and while it's safe to assume he won't shoot 39% from three, he will shoot better than 32%. Thirdly, his minutes will be huge all year, and he'll continue to be getting a ton of shots and posting a high usage. What will make or break his scoring title chances will be how efficient he scores, and I think he'll improve slightly in that regard.

Will he win it? It's doubtful, but I can see him hanging around. He's not going to be as efficient as he was last year for obvious reasons, but he'll get better as the season goes along, and like I said, his ability to get to the line 9-10 times a game might be the difference maker. I don't think that total will dip a whole lot.

He might not be in Kobe, LeBron or Durant's league as an overall player, but we're just talking scoring title here.

As for the turnovers, you're right that he turns it over a ton, but considering how often he has the ball in his hands and is attacking the rim, it's not too terrible. 4.1 TOs a game is bad on the surface, but it's not going to cripple his scoring. Harden turns it over on 15.9% of his possessions. Kobe is at 14.9, Durant 15.1 and Chris Paul 14.6%. We're not talking about a huge difference here. One extra turnover or so every 100 possessions probably won't be the deal breaker.

As for getting his shot blocked, he gets his shot blocked 8% of the time he shoots it. That is a pretty high number, but again, it's easily explained when you look at where his shots are coming from. 37% of his shots are close to the rim. For comparison's sake, Kobe Bryant only gets 4% of his shots blocked, but only 23% of his shots are close to the rim. Durant is 5% and 22% respectively as well. Melo has 9% of his shots blocked. So yeah, he does get blocked a lot, but that comes with the territory. Getting an extra 3% of your shots blocked because you're shooting a significant amount more at the rim is a fair trade off, and nothing to be worried about. It's again not gonna cripple his scoring title chances.

I think he's got an outside shot for a few reasons. First, he is exceptional at getting to the free-throw line. Secondly, he's had a poor start to the season from the three point land, and while it's safe to assume he won't shoot 39% from three, he will shoot better than 32%. Thirdly, his minutes will be huge all year, and he'll continue to be getting a ton of shots and posting a high usage. What will make or break his scoring title chances will be how efficient he scores, and I think he'll improve slightly in that regard.

Will he win it? It's doubtful, but I can see him hanging around. He's not going to be as efficient as he was last year for obvious reasons, but he'll get better as the season goes along, and like I said, his ability to get to the line 9-10 times a game might be the difference maker. I don't think that total will dip a whole lot.

all i know is that i hate it when Harden decides to iso and play hero ball at the end of games because he always either loose the ball or get his shot blocked.

I haven't been able to watch every game. I know he can get I the rim. I was thinking he could just get to the line more and if e shoots over 90% fts that will prob keep him up there. Hopefully if he can improve his 3 ball and jumpshot he can start to average closer to 30ppg. Yeah I don't see him being an MVP but it would be cool to see him get the scoring title. Melo is playing great right now an Kobe is scoring a lot too. Harden really needs to just get 40 a game and go Michael Jordan.

Maybe when Lin starts sinking his jump shot again that will free up more space for Harden.

Parsons has been helping a lot and hopefully defenses start planning for him too.

Has harden been shooting many outside shots? What else can he do to improve and make himself stand out?

I haven't been able to watch every game. I know he can get I the rim. I was thinking he could just get to the line more and if e shoots over 90% fts that will prob keep him up there. Hopefully if he can improve his 3 ball and jumpshot he can start to average closer to 30ppg. Yeah I don't see him being an MVP but it would be cool to see him get the scoring title. Melo is playing great right now an Kobe is scoring a lot too. Harden really needs to just get 40 a game and go Michael Jordan.

Maybe when Lin starts sinking his jump shot again that will free up more space for Harden.

Parsons has been helping a lot and hopefully defenses start planning for him too.

Has harden been shooting many outside shots? What else can he do to improve and make himself stand out?

he doesn't have a good in between game. it's either he'll shoot a three pointer or attack the basket. if he develops a decent mid range or pull-up game, he'll be a heck of a offensive player.

I think he could, I wouldn't bet on it, but we're talking abour an offense that has been together for less than a month. Right now, everything is about isolation and transition, it will change a lot until the end of the season, especially if coach McHale comes back.

I love harden as much as anyone but I honestly think durant will get it again. The guy can score at will. Harden has to work for his shots or drives and durant can just put up anywhere. I think harden will be a top 5 scorer but not #1

Like everyone else, I don't think Harden will get the scoring title, but I definitely think he'll finish in the top five in the 24-26 PPG range. And it's certainly not out of the realm of possibility. He's been great this season, but his efficiency has taken a bit of a dropoff. However, his shooting (especially from beyond the arc) has improved drastically lately and should continue to improve.

He's currently averaging 25.1 PPG on 17.3 FGA, 5.9 3PA and 9.4 FTA on .443/.337/.832 shooting percentages. If he shot the same percentages as last year (.491/.390/.846) with the same number of attempts, he'd be averaging 26.05 points per game. So there is some room for improvement even if he doesn't take more shots per game.